Reflections on Capitol Climate Action

A lot of my time at Powershift was spent in preparation for the Capitol Climate Action, the largest protest and civil disobedience on climate change in history!  I went to the non-violence training and practiced scenarios.  I went to the legal briefing to find out everything I needed to know about being arrested.  I went to the action center for a meeting the night before the big day to build enthusiasm while it began to snow outside.  I got nervous.  I had been looking forward to this event for weeks and had been preparing for it all weekend, but I was starting to wonder, "Will I have the guts for this tomorrow?â€ 

I had heard over and over during the weekend that arrests were highly unlikely, that the police knew every detail of our plans, and that they really weren’t going to mess with us unless things got out of hand.  After attending the legal briefing, however, I realized that getting arrested sounded like more of a hassle than I wanted to deal with, and while unlikely, it was certainly a possibility. I began thinking heavily about what role I was going to play in the action, and taking a non-arrestable role sounded more and more appealing.  I’m the kind of person that always needs to be prepared (and I worry!).  I’m pretty sure I talked my friends to death Sunday night about all the possible things that could happen.  What if we did get arrested?  What if we got held in jail for a few hours?  What if this?  What if that?  My friend John Walker told me that sometimes, you can’t worry and that you just need to go with it.  While I would have gladly taken his advice right then and there, my overactive brain couldn’t do it!  I realized I was tired and I should just make my decision in the morning.

Monday morning came and I decided I was going to go on with my original plan.  There was really no need to worry, especially since I probably wasn’t going to be arrested anyway.  I think my final thought was, "I have to go through with this.  What if everybody felt like backing down like I did?  What would my parents, my friends, and my future children think?  Most important of all, how would I feel about myself?â€  I went to the ATM with my newfound friends and withdrew the suggested $100 just in case I needed to get myself out of jail.  I sharpied the action’s phone support number on my arm and placed the Ghandi sticker for non-violence on my jacket.  I was dressed in as many layers as I had brought.  I was ready.

We gathered in the Spirit of Justice Park, put together banners, and organized into different contingents which would block different gates of the power plant.  My friends and I were in the red group, which would be the first group to take a gate.  The excitement was building as I started losing some feeling in my toes.  A third pair of socks probably would have been advantageous.  We all felt really antsy and waited for the march to start.

Once the march filed out of the park, the crowd seemed unstoppable.  We made a LOT of noise shouting things like, "Show me what democracy looks like!  This is what democracy looks like!â€ and "Clean coal?  HELL NO!  That’s a myth that’s got to go!â€ amongst many other things.  We waved signs and banners and we numbered over 2,500 as we marched through the streets.  People looked out of their windows to watch.  Counter protesters even came out to hold signs as we walked past, but their numbers were but a speck of coal blocking our metaphorical solar panels.  At last, the power plant loomed in front of us and the police were everywhere.  We began to circle it and the red group took the first gate.  We shouted more and waved to the other groups walking past to take the other gates.

We remained outside the gates for several hours, keeping up the chanting, singing, and dancing to keep warm.  We finally declared victory at the smaller gates and marched in solidarity to the green gate around the corner, which was the main gate.  A final swell of people joined in front and more stood across from them.  Louder chanting and movement ensued until victory was declared over the whole action.  We successfully blocked all of the entrances to the power plant for several hours…without getting arrested!

I read somewhere that this was not a protest but a celebration. Despite the typical protesting chants and banners, it was a celebration.  It was a celebration of power, community, and justice.  Over 2,500 people at the action and 12,000 at Powershift coming together to celebrate the fact that we DON’T have to sit back and take the pollution, environmental degradation, and suffering from the government or the rich fossil fuel industries was phenomenal.  The people have spoken.  We have educated, we have lobbied, and now we have acted directly.  Now, we must continue to speak.  We must make our voices even louder than they were outside of that power plant.  We must use this action to encourage more people to join in the fight and build numbers and it is certainly a conversation starter.  I’ve shared my story with quite a few people so far. We must remember that just because we held the gates at the plant for a few hours, we are so far from finished in our duties.  There are always more learning opportunities, plenty of important lobbying, and of course powerful rallying to be done!